There was an ENORMOUS amount of colliding an ENORMOUS time ago. See moon for obvious evidence and it is even theorised that the moon is a result of something VERY BIG crashing into Earth and dislodging a bit ...
As ENORMOUS amounts of further time passed by, things and stuff floating around reached a state of ALMOST balance. Be advised it ain't perfect and the signs are that it will get worse. Our moon is gradually moving away from us and we NEED that moon to give us stability. Without the moon we would develop a bit of an exaggerated wobble and the seasons would all go to hell in a hand-basket.
There is STILL stuff colliding and crashing.
65 million years ago an ENORMOUS asteroid hit this planet. Another one is inevitably on its way.
By the way, the sun is expanding and will consume Mercury in a while. We are third in line.
Balance? Not quite.
OOps - YES, the planets in our solar system are held in place due to the gravitational pull of the sun. Fortunately, all the planets are on different orbits, at vastly different distances from the sun, all of which helps them to avoid each other. Cool idea.
2007-04-15 01:12:14
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Hey MCJI... How are things going?
The planets within our Solar System do not collide because they are each in a separate orbit which is widely separated from all others. Conveniently, most all of the orbits of the planets are aligned just about the same and form a sort of flat disk around the Sun. The one exception is Pluto whose orbit is tipped at an angle to the orbits of all the other planets. To give you some idea of the distances involved, I can post the "average" radius of those orbits for you. The actual radius varies because the orbits are eliptical and not circular. However, for a quick look at the distances involved, the average distance will suffice:
Average Distance from the Sun:
Mercury 36 Million Miles
Venus 67.2 Million Miles
The Earth 93 Million Miles
Mars 141.6 Million Miles
Jupiter 483.7 Million Miles
Saturn 886.15 Million Miles
Uranus 1.78 Billion Miles
Neptune 2.8 Billion Miles
Pluto 3.7 Billion Miles
So, as you can see, there is a huge amount of space between the orbits of the various planets, and not much of a chance for a collision between any of them.
Yes, the gravity of the Sun has an effect upon them. That is why they are circling around it. At this time the gravity of the Sun is constant and no changes in the position of the planets within their orbits are expected. None, for example will fall into the Sun.
2007-04-15 01:43:16
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answer #2
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answered by zahbudar 6
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Learn English
2007-04-18 15:03:57
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answer #3
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answered by hilltopobservatory 3
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They don't collide with the sun because they are in a stable orbit around it.
2007-04-15 03:03:10
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answer #4
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answered by Billy Butthead 7
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they never collide because they are far away from each other and they never attract to the sun because they have enough orbital velocity to stay in their orbits
2007-04-15 01:30:00
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answer #5
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answered by suerena 2
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because they all have their own orbital path and very far away from each other.
2007-04-18 22:12:37
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answer #6
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answered by Lefty 7
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